Murray's run continues with Tokyo final place

Andy Murray's winning run continued today as he booked his place in the final of the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships in Tokyo with an impressive win over David Ferrer.

The world number four dismantled the durable Spaniard with a 6-2 6-3 victory to tee-up a showdown with Rafael Nadal in tomorrow's final.

It was Murray's 11th win in a row and he has lost just once in 23 meetings, with his overall form also impressive having lost just twice since Wimbledon.

In fact, Nadal has inflicted two of his last three defeats on him, something he will need to remedy tomorrow if he is to back-up last week's win in Thailand, but this performance against Ferrer suggested he was ready to do that.

Murray's incessant hitting from the baseline, normally a hallmark of Ferrer's game, forced the world number five to concede his serve twice in the first set, allowing the Scot to take it at a canter.

Ferrer's hopes of fighting back in the second suffered an instant blow as Murray cashed in three break points in the very first game.

That was all he needed and, after holding serve impressively and displaying none of the frailties that appeared on serve during his quarter-final win over David Nalbandian yesterday, he won inside 81 minutes.

Nadal earned his final spot with a 7-5 6-1 win over the previously in-form Mardy Fish. PA